Oetzi Iceman

Ancient Human

Born: c. 3300 B.C.

Died: c. 3300 B.C. (stabbing)

Birthplace: Italy(?)

Best known as: The iceman found in the Alps in 1991

The prehistoric mountaineer known as the Oetzi Iceman was discovered at a height of 3200 meters (more than 10,000 feet) in the Tyrollean Alps on 19 September 1991. The frozen body was remarkably well preserved and still clad in primitive clothing, including an animal hide coat and grass cape. The body was claimed by Austrian scientists, who determined that he was a Bronze Age man who lived around 3300 B.C. The Iceman was first housed at the University of Innsbruck, but after agreeing that the body was actually found a few meters inside Italian territory, the Austrians transferred the body to Italian care in 1998. The Oetzi Iceman then went on display in a special refrigerated case in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. In 2001 scientists announced that the Iceman probably died from wounds inflicted by an arrowhead found in his left shoulder.